I drove nearly 3000 miles and didn't go through a drive-thru

Remember my reason for starting this blog back in January? The trip? Well, it's over and done and this is a post about that trip. It's not a recipe post at all. If you are looking for one, move on. Hx has posted some yummy stuff in my absence.

This post is about not eating junk - while on vacation.

We drove all the way from Wisconsin to Florida. We did it in stages. Day 1 took us to Clarksville, TN. Day 2 took us to Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium and spending the night in Macon (where our cars' wiring to the starter decided to die, but that's another post all together) and finally to Orlando Florida on Day 3. Driving down we packed LOTS of snacks for the kids, water, even milk (the Organic Valley boxed stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated). We ate sandwiches instead of junk food.

Once we got to Disney we stayed at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. This is on the camp ground at Disney. I'll admit, I had never considered staying at the camp ground. People go to Disney to be pampered. But upon researching the cabins it offered everything we wanted. A room with a full bed for me and my husband, bunk beds for the kids and a full, regular murphy bed for my mom. We all had our own space. Did I mention it had a FULL working kitchen?? When we arrived on Monday evening we didn't dash for the food court or other Disney Dining options. Nope. We fired up the grill and had burgers!

Even better, the next morning I made pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast!! Do you even KNOW what Disney charges for food?? We were saving a ton even if the cabin was a little more than an "economy" room.  The cabin offered a private area. My mom could walk right in from the car without walking a mile to one of the million rooms. The kids could make all the noise they wanted - no one under us - no one below us. Can you tell I loved them??

On Tuesday we hit up Magic Kingdom - after that yummy breakfast. For lunch, I had scheduled reservations at the Crystal Palace. I chose this because of the offerings of vegetarian fare that various Disney web sites said that they had.  Crystal Palace is NOT cheap. BUT... since we didn't dine out for breakfast, we had one big lunch. It was a buffet. It was an awesome buffet. Most of what I had was vegetarian. I loved the ratatouille. I loved the broccoli. The mashed potatoes. Yum. By the time we were done it was 2pm and that was pretty much it for the day.

Know what the best thing was?? I didn't eat any of the junk that I usually do at Disney! Better yet?? I never felt weighed down or tired or bloated.

My point of this post is that I am clearly learning to eat better. No more junk, drive thrus, fries, burgers etc...  I crave fresh veggies now. I WANT organic food more. I need healthier stuff. I am looking forward to getting back and making my own stuff.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised (and hope!) that maybe perhaps I even lost a pound or two on this trip.

Birthday Beets

This past Friday a couple of us celebrated a friend's birthday (30th?). How great is it when the one you're celebrating for also does most of the grocery shopping, the prep work and half of the cooking before you arrive? She even asked *me* what I'd be interested in for the meal. I wanted beets, knowing they are one of her favorites as well. All I had to do was bring the wine.

So she decided on Marinated Giant White Beans and Beets from the New York Times, along with Skordalia and, for dessert, Lemon Bars. "Giant white beans" are just big lima beans in disguise, but they taste better maybe because they're bigger, or maybe because they're served with something else that's actually tasty.

We decided that Skordalia should be known as "German or Greek pesto". Garlicky Goodness! It was perfect with the beans and the entire loaf of bread we wolfed down.

Repeat after me: "Beets are delicious." I sometimes have cravings for beets. I don't care what crap your mom served to you when you were a kid - go get some, scrub, chop and roast them. Roasted beets with salt, pepper and olive oil are some of the most tastiest things on the planet. Add some sweet potatoes, shallots and maybe some dill or rosemary or topped with feta and some balsamic vinegar. It was change you into a beet lover. Golden yellow beets are also good and don't stain, but lack the peaty punch I crave. Canned beets should be banned. And pickled beets - meh. Beets are, of course, uber-healthy to boot.


Who can resist an ooey-gooey lemon bar? So glad that Pam added the lemon zest, which the recipe did not call for. Happy Birthday!

Gobble-ing Down the Turkey Meatloaf

I think that I've made meatloaf once... and it was a *long* time ago. I'm sure it was fine. My mom always makes really delicious meatloaf -- it's topped with bacon afterall. So seeing as how I've been a pretty healthy cook, there was no reason to try and top mom's ridiculously tasty, although maybe not-as-healthy, recipe. Why ruin that happy memory?

Since I am now with a man who appreciates a good meatloaf every now and then (especially after a hard day of skiing, poor boy), I decided to venture out and try a healthier version of my mom's. The portion in the photo is clearly mine (skiers need larger helpings). I haven't eaten meatloaf in quite awhile since I now cook do most, if not all, of the cooking for mom whenever we're together, but this version was really good. I'll make it again. Let's just say that I think that Mom would love it.

Mom's Turkey Meatloaf from Ellie's Krieger's book The Food You Crave. I recently borrowed this book from the library because it's won two of the biggest cookbook awards - both the James Beard and IACP for 2009. Impressive. I admit to only having watched her on Food Network just once, but I've been intrigued by her healthy cooking and down-to-earth personality for quite some time. I also appreciate that each recipe includes nutritional information.

Southern Salad

I tend to favor salads with heft, but not necessarily in the form of meat. I prefer pasta, rice, potato and bean salads. This bean salad suddenly shows up at our table at least twice a year, signaling the onset of spring or summer. It's cool and crisp, spicy and sharp. The heft appears as black-eyed peas, which I cannot usually locate on the canned shelves, (only dried, unless I'm in a health-food store).

This Black-Eyed Pea Salad recipe is from Sunset magazine. There are bountiful similar black-eyed pea salad recipes out there, but I like this one's coolness of the tomato and cucumber, and the addition of cilantro and serrano.

I always make it with one large modification: reduce the onion by one-half or more. Be sure to follow the instructions and rinse the onion to deaden the sharpness. It calls for lemon juice, but I prefer lime. Welcome Spring!

Great Potatoes

So, I am seeing a pattern. It's not on purpose either. Hx and I seem to go to the same places for recipes at the same time. Tonight, I saw her recipe for Tofu and noticed it was from Cooks Illustrated. Last night, I tried a recipe from their special Light & Healthy Special Edition - a Scalloped Potatoes Recipe. I have to admit, I was very doubtful about this receipe. 2 cups of 2% milk? 3 tablespoons of light cream cheese. I didn't think it would be like real scalloped potatoes. Cooks Illustrated assured me that they tweaked this recipe to make it taste good, but be low in fat. 

I was wrong. It was pretty darn tasty. I will admit, it was good hot. I saved some for today for lunch. It was better. I will probably never use a box of "cheesy potatoes" again. It was that good, seriously.

Look how yummy and creamy that looks! That golden brown crust. I want more.

Hot Tofu

There's just something awesome about making stir fry dishes. They're fast, have tons of flavor, and somehow exciting, but I can't explain how or why. Rob thinks it's the peanuts.

Tonight I decided to make Cooking Light's Szechuan-Style Tofu with Peanuts. You broil the tofu (gotta love that whole roasting/broiling/carmelizing thing), while the rest is cooking on the stovetop. The recipe doesn't have rave reviews on the site, but I thought it was pretty good. It's not something I'll probably make again (or at least I'll add some garlic), but I like the idea of broiling the tofu, which is new to me. It also calls for a full tablespoon of sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste), not that I'm complaining (YUM).

Tofu. It used to scare me. Tofu is fairly harmless, though. It takes on whatever flavors you throw at it, which is handy since it won't interfere or clash with anything else. I've come to love the firm variety, and I especially love tofu in stir fry dishes. It almost seems like tofu was made for a stir fries (maybe because it's Asian, but maybe not). I hear that it might originate from cheesemaking in Europe (source).

At any rate, this week it seems that the cooking bug has bit (note photo). Library books that I just wanted to 'take a little look at.' Gah! Looks like my reading schedule is booked up (HAHAHA) for awhile (oh, come on.. I'm a former librarian, so I'm allowed one or two awful book-related puns).

Make Your Own Pizza Night

We do this about once a month. As you have probably noticed, everyone in our house has their own tastes, which makes cooking a challenge. Make your own pizza night allows everyone to have their own, personalized pizza.

Tonight, I started with the 99cent pizza dough from Trader Joes. I had an assortment of toppings. Grated carrots, bean sprouts, bbq sauce, pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, cooked chicken breast, cilantro, sauted onions & green peppers. I am sure I am missing something, but that's about it.

Here are the pizzas we ended up with :

My son - traditional cheese, onions & peppers with sauce - I think he added cilantro too
My daughter - a calzone with pizza sauce, pepperoni, carrots & cheese - and a cilantro smiley face on the outside
My husband - a bbq chicken pizza - sauce, chicken, cheese & cilantro
Finally, mine was a thai chicken pizza with bean sprouts, hoisin sauce (I had actually planned on using a Peanut Satay sauce, but was afraid it would have been too nutty. Turns out the hoisin & satay together would have been perfect), cilantro, cheese & carrots.

The only common ingredient in all our pizzas was cilantro!

This works out great because everyone gets what they want.

Meh

I finally made something that I really don't like very much - but it sure is pretty. Tonight was Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry from Food Network Magazine. It was OK, not awful, but not worthy of making again. I KNOW that none of you will be trying it out for one main reason -- Okra. This is the first time I've cooked with okra. Yeah, it's slimy (although it's a great thickener). Rob said 'these peppers aren't very hot' and it took me a moment to figure out that he meant the okra. Poor California boy ain't never had no okra.


For some odd reason, the only cauliflower I could find in the grocery store was either purple or orange. Purple seems slightly more 'normal.' Orange reminded me of a nuclear glow, so I opted for the purple. It tasted the same as white cauliflower, but made for a really colorful dish.

The Best Grits, er Polenta, I Ever Made.. Y'all

Once upon a time, before I fell in love with New Mexican chiles, Colorado peaches, and Wisconsin beer (and cheese), I grew up in the South. It wasn't really the 'true South' since we lived on the coast with an expanding flux of New Yorkers and New Jersey folks overtaking the beach-side real estate. However, half of my family was fairly southern-like (my Dad's side has a strong accent), and we all certainly loved southern food, fried and fatty. Every week I was fed grits for breakfast, topped with butter, salt and pepper - as any good Southerner should consume grits. I didn't know what decent oatmeal tasted like, or whatever 'cream of wheat' was (sounded disgusting to me at the time).

I never knew what grits were really made of - corn, sure, but the rest was a mystery. It didn't occur to me that grits are the same as cornmeal. NO! Oh yes, it's true. I never realized that corn, ground into different consistencies, becomes cornmeal, grits, and that I'll-never-cook-hominy. My mom, being a good pseudo-Southerner (she's from LonGisland but moved to the South when she was just a wee one), once made the faux-pas mistake of asking for 'grits' in a snooty Colorado health-food store. 'Oh, you mean 'POLENTA' was the storekeeper's response. Needless to say, my mom rolled her eyes and gave him a glare.

Tonight I cooked Creamy Parmesan Polenta (GRITS!) with Sauteed Cherry Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Topping. It calls for coarse-ground cornmeal (none of that inferior stone or, god-forbid, quick-cooking). This is one of those rare quick-to-make Cooks Illustrated recipes.

This dish was fantastic. Ok, so it passes one of my important criteria: lots of cheese (2 kinds - whoo hoo!), but the sweetness of the tomatoes combined with buttery, cheesy grits was really really good. Really good. The best grits I've ever tasted. Yo. Y'all.

I haven't given up, just been busy

Have no fear! I am still cooking at home. My schedule changed yet again. I am now much more of an early bird than I ever thought I would be. For 3 days straight, I was up at 5:15 AM. My new bakery job is a blast and I love making sweets and NOT eating them. It's really fun, but tough, long work.

I feel for the owner. It's her 6th week in business and she works 3 days straight for about 16-17 hours. I honestly don't know how she does it. But the place is getting rave reviews and I am thrilled to tell people about it. I do need to learn to plan again. I need to make more use of the crock pot or find more quick, good, recipes. I am really beat in the evenings, so I don't really FEEL like cooking, but of course have to.

Anyway, inspired by my new job, I decided when I came home on Thursday I was going to just whip up something, without a recipe. At the bakery, the owner is always trying new flavors and just seeing what works. That was my inspiration.

I had my Soba Noodles.
I had all sorts of asian seasonings
It was time to try and make some sort of asian noodle dish that I REALLY liked. The recipes I have tried had way too much sesame oil. I like it, just not too much.

Here's what I made.

Sauce :

1/4 cup Tamari
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1tsp teriyaki sauce
grated ginger
3 tsbp rice vinegar
2 tsp black bean garlic paste

Mixed everything together. Tossed with the soba noodles (it was an 8oz) pack and some sauteed red peppers and onions. I wanted to add some green onions but some stupid grocery store was out! I had also thought of adding some lime juice, but the ginger gave it gave enough of a hint of citrus.

For the carnivores in the house, I marinated some chicken in Teriyaki sauce and then sliced it up and cooked it.

Everyone gobbled it up!

Pi Day!

It was pure cosmic circumstance that I happened to make pie today. I usually go grocery shopping on Sundays, after carefully deciding what recipes I want to make for the week (thanks Pam!). King Krappers didn't have black bean garlic sauce for the stir-fry dish. I forgot the dried chickpeas for the curry. Once home from the store I realized that I had the wrong kind of cornmeal for the creamy polenta - which I had planned to make tonight.



The only recipe left to make with the ingredients on hand was, thankfully, one of our favs: Spinach-Mushroom Pie. I've been making this pie ever since I started cooking. It includes a roux, which used to turn me into a cranky maniac if any unfortunate soul decided to interupt me while in the middle of this step. Nowadays, like tonight, I was chatting away at my mom on the phone as I whisked away at the roux, babbling about nutrition and food science (poor mom, she hates science-talk). Funny how things change.

So this recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Not-Strictly Vegetarian Cookbook. My mom and I bought it together when she was gently pushing me to cook - it might have been my first cookbook. It worked. I love this book for a few reasons: I have never been a vegetarian, but these recipes inspired me to eat healthy, and it has a lovely red beet stain that leaked along many of its pages.

Happy Pi Day!

Oatmeal Muffins, Denver Style

The Colorado Cache Cookbook is one of the most notoriously famous Junior League cookbooks. It's sold over 1 million (!) copies and has 20 or so printings (and 5 editions) since it's inception in 1978. I own the 3rd edition, published in 1988. The 5th just came out in 2008, celebrating its 30th anniversary. I'm not sure what the real difference is between the editions -- I was actually perusing the latest edition today in a bookstore and they still have a 'microwaving' section, which seems a little outdated.

This is actually the first time I've ever cooked from this book. As I was scanning the recipes yesterday, I couldn't help but notice why I haven't used it yet... the reason kept popping out at me on every page... the recipes are not all that healthy. If you like (and who doesn't?) lots of dairy and saturated fat, then this is the book for you. No wonder everything is tasty and has high readership. I actually learned about the cookbook long before my arrival in Colorado. My old roomie, Jo, would make this very tasty artichoke dip for parties. My mom, a constant browser of thrift stores, found and gave me my copy for $6.95 (thanks mom!).

The recipe I finally settled on was Oatmeal Muffins. Muffins fit one of my favorite food categories: portability. They're great for breakfast grabbing - I like to eat my breakfast at work, so dragging something along to combine with my coffee or tea is perfect. I added the optional chopped dates to make it seem like these muffins belong in the 'healthy' category. Trust me, they don't. They're certainly tasty though.

Creamy Broccoli Dal

Trust me, it tastes better than it looks. Last night Rob and I made Creamy Broccoli Dal from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook. Dal is the Indian word for lentils with curry. Yum is right.

I adore red lentils. Mix those little lovelies with spices like: turmeric, red pepper, garam masala, mustard seeds and cumin and yowsah! Double the recipe if you're like me and prefer a healthy dose of leftovers for next-day lunch.

Local Food Rocks!

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, Tuesdays  are busy evenings. It used to be easier to just grab something quick after my daughters dance or in between my son's swimming. Since January, we have not done this, of course. I am always looking for quick good meals for Tuesdays.

Today I had my 1st Tuesday off in a few months  - which I needed after being scheduled for 6 days straight. And I say scheduled because I was supposed to work on Saturday but my stomach didn't really agree with that idea, so I couldn't work, so I didn't work, but it wasn't really a day "off".

...so anyway, today I was running some errands. I decided to go to Whole Foods for the 1st time in a long, long time.  My main reasoning for going there was to get some soba noodles. I looked at Trader Joes - nope. Unless I wanted the Tokyo Style Soba noodles that I wasn't incredibly fond of. Local grocery  - both Copps & Sentry - nope. Whole Foods was my last hope & it came through! But this post isn't about soba - soba is definitely not usually local. This is about pasta. 

I went there thinking I would grab some pasta sauce for dinner tonight since I was planning on having pasta for dinner, but then I stumbled upon something I hadn't had in a long, long time. RP's Pasta. 

I decided on a Tri Color 4 Cheese Ravioli.  Rather than smother it in sauce, I decided to just coat it with a little olive oil and fresh Parm. I was out of parm, so I picked some up at Whole, and surprise! It was Wisconsin Cheese! Hooray! More local food.

I served it with some demi baguette & butter. Voila!  A fancy, super easy dinner. The nice thing about fresh pasta is the super fast cooking time. 4-5 mins in the boiling water. It takes longer waiting for it to boil!

Perhaps not cheap, but broken down by the serving it's still much less expensive than going out to dinner. It probably broke down to about $3/ serving.

Yes, it was as good as it looks.

I hope to pick up more RP's more frequently. It's a little less straight from the source. The farmers market sells it for a very reasonable price. I am thinking this summer I may need to buy quite a few at a time to keep stocked.

I Want Chicken Tonight, Chicken Tonight

7 times out of 10, when I ask Rob what he wants for dinner, he starts singing "I want chicken tonight, chicken tonight." Naturally, this is not very helpful, but then, neither are the other 3 times out of 10 when he says "orzo!" Sigh... one can make only so many orzo dishes. However, this ultimately means that I can make whatever I want, which is definitely helpful.



I don't make a lot of chicken. When I was living by myself as a first year grad student and as a new cook, I probably made chicken 30 different ways (mainly varying the 'sauce'). I sort of became sick and tired of chicken, unless it's roasted (pre-brined, of course) or drowning in sauce (as in chicken pot pie or enchiladas). Tonight I was haunted by a flashback - I had to make 'cooked chicken breasts'. So, unlike my younger attempts with chicken that lacked flavor depth, I decided to sear them in olive oil, encrusted with salt and pepper. Thankfully, that did the trick.

The meat is then is shredded for a southwestern style Chicken, Rice, and Black-Bean Salad from Everyday Food Magazine. Like Rachel Ray, Everyday Food recipes are hit and miss. This one, however, went above my fairly low expectations. Why? Well, how can any 'southwestern style' salad with black beans and tomatoes NOT include lime juice, cilantro or avocado. I had serious reservations. The only spice was cumin, and the only dressing was white wine vinegar and olive oil. Sounds positively boring. Plus, the plum tomatoes were not looking so hot - rather unripe (see photo). I was absolutely wrong - it was really really good and I haven't a clue as to why. I'll make this one again for sure.

Cooking at the Kasbah

Every month or three for the past 4 years, Rob and I meet up with our friends Dave & Melissa to cook an extensive feast. I say 'extensive' because over time we've met earlier and earlier in the day since it takes hours to construct an entire meal. This is due, in part, to our abundant ingest of wine. We like wine. A lot. One time we didn't eat dinner until 10. I don't really remember it, but the ones sitting and waiting for the meal definitely do and remind us of it regularly.

Usually it's Dave & I doing the cooking, while Rob & Melissa eat and drink and discuss god-knows-what (most likely what hill they're going to tackle next in skiing or biking), or maybe they wax their skis. It seems to me that they're just buying time until we bring them something more to eat. Melissa, being a planner like myself, wants to eat on a regular schedule and preferably before bedtime, and therefore has been cracking the whip ever since the 10pm fiasco. Dave & I clearly need time limits (or wine limits). I really love these times together. Dave & I have cooking zen (except when drunk and cooking), and it's an opportunity for us to make something more advanced since we share a love of Cooks Illustrated (which is how this all started). Rob & Melissa are excellent tasters and critics - and easy to cook for, even when they're hungry and ornery.

Last night they came over and we made 4 dishes, 3 from Cooks. Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Lemon (chicken tagine, but don't tell Rob) and Couscous Pilaf with Raisins and Almonds. We also used this moroccan recipe from Cooking at the Kasbah: Carmelized Carrots with Sweet Paprika. The chicken and the couscous were especially tasty, and they were all fairly easy. I'm not sure how much better toasting the couscous made for its dish, but toasting the almonds was definitely a good thing. Anyway, we ate at a reasonable time - 8pm. Progress is good.

Then came the bread pudding. As a kid I wouldn't even think of eating something that resembles soggy bread. That all changed when Jo, my roommate in Madison, introduced me to cinnamon-toast-bread. Then she cleverly paired the bread with cream, eggs, chocolate, coffee and sugar, and baked it. How can anyone resist that? I actually remember the first bite: creamy (not soggy at all!), sweet and unlike what I had expected. I have been hooked on bread pudding ever since.

So this version includes rum and raisins. Yeah, I think I can handle a forkful of that (or 3). It's from Cooks - Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Cinnamon. This isn't the healthy version, if one actually exists. We're talking about 2 cups of cream, milk, 9 egg yolks, challah bread, sugar, etc. Nothing wrong with that. It was pretty good - we all had it for breakfast. It was agreed that the challah made for an overly creamy bread choice, and it needed more crispy topping, but I'd make it again.

Black Bean Lasagna Redux

I made Hx's Black Bean Lasagna a few weeks ago & while it was eaten by all, there were complaints flying. I wasn't sure what to make tonight, so before heading home after work I spoke with David to see what his idea for dinner might be. Lasagna. My nemesis. I really like this recipe and I love that it has beans in it. But that's the problem for my kids. The beans.

So, what to do?? Mash the living you know what out of those beans. They were practically unrecognizable. I also added some onions and garlic to the ricotta mixture.

The result. My son ate 2 bowls. No mention of the beans and he even thanked me for NOT putting in ricotta. Ha! I did it. No one had one issue with it this time.

Success!!!

I'd like to try this.

Have you seen this? The Real Food Challenge. I think it's a GREAT idea. But, gosh, I don't know if I could really do it. I know I could do a lot of them, but all? I honestly don't know. Here were the 28 Challenges.

1. Ditch processed, packaged, refined foods.
2. Choose wholesome, natural foods.
3. Improve your grains.
4. Start your sourdough.
5. Sprout your grains.
6. Mill your own sprouted flour or make wet-milled sprouted grain bread.
7. Relax and evaluate.
8. Fats for moderate and high heat.
9. Fight against GMOs.
10. Fats to eat raw.
11. Bake your sourdough.
12. Find real milk.
13. Get your (good) bacteria.
14. Relax, evaluate and eat some dark chocolate.
15. What’s a SCOBY?
16. Get cultured (veggies, that is).
17. Make yogurt at home.
18. Make cheese at home.
19. Prepare nuts and seeds properly.
20. Maximize the value of beans and legumes.
21. Vegetables and salads and another reason to eat your fats.
22. Why you should eat red meat.
23. Eat your bacon, eggs and lard too.
24. Homemade broth and stock.
25. Not-so-awful Offal.
26. Fish and seafood.
27. Grow your foodshed.
28. Beyond the challenge.

Most of these I have NO problem with. In fact, I was just thinking that I would like to start making sourdough and I would like to get a sourdough mother started. The items I have issues with?? Making yogurt. I hate yogurt. I guess MAYBE if I made it, I might eat it. But it's just something I don't like. What else? Making cheese. This, honestly, I got to leave to the professionals. We have so many good cheese makers here in my area. Perhaps if I was still in Florida or something, I wouldn't have a problem, but no way, I am not making cheese in Wisconsin! I am honestly a little skeptical of lard. Plus, with a vegetarian in the house, I'd rather not go there.

Other than that, I think it's doable. My favorite? #14. Of course, I am already doing that one.

Grown Up Dinner

Tuesday is always a busy day. Usually my daughter has dance and my son swims. Dance is from 5-6, swimming 5:45-7. Not a lot of time to cook.

Today we made a quick and easy dinner for the kids (no swimming, so they ate after my daughters dance) which was just tomato soup and crackers. Nothing fancy. Just easy.

For us, I wanted something good, but easy, and healthy. While at her dance, I pulled out my iPod and ran the "Dinner Spinner". I put in Chicken, as a main dish and in less than 45 mins. Lots of recipes caught my eye. But there was only one I had everything for. It was called "Simply Parmesan Chicken". As I was making this I was thinking how nice it is to have things now that I am cooking so much. Instead of regular breadcrumbs, I had panko! I used Tuscan Sunset Italian seasoning from Penzeys.

My accompanying dish was a basmati rice blend from Trader Joes.  (Are you seeing a pattern here? Trader Joes, Penzey's etc...). A very easy, quick and tasty meal. The chicken was very, very good.

Stuffed Peppers, Vegetarian Style

I remember when I was little my mom would make stuffed peppers. They were good. I don't remember TOO much about them, other than there was meat in them. In my neverending quest to find a GOOD vegetarian meal that all of us will like, I decided to give this a go. This recipe comes from our featured cook, Rachael Ray ( I PROMISE, no more RR recipes for a while - I can't commit for too long).  Tonight we have Southwestern Stuffed Peppers. The vegetarian likes rice, onions & green peppers, so I can't miss right? Well, luckily he liked it ok, my daughter not so much. (just thinking about this makes me want to rip my hair out!). I did make a few changes to the recipe. Mainly, I forgot the cilantro so we didn't have any. I didn't mention it to the others in the house, because they probably would have been angry about this. We are a cilantro lovin' house.

I did happen to have a little sour cream left over from my Salmon Pasta, so I added that on top. The boy doesn't like sour cream - I think it's because of the word "sour". I wouldn't touch it either when I was his age. But then I became enlightened to the fact that it's not sour, but is cream.

But I digress. I also added a little cheese. I had some Trader Joes shredded mozz, Monterrey Jack and cheddar blend, so I sprinkled it on top hoping to make it more appealing. Oh, finally, I added a little cumin when I cooked the onions. I think the only thing disappointing in this meal was the fact that it used a jar taco sauce. I think I would have liked it better if the seasonings we fresher - rather than from a jar. Perhaps using a Penzey's Taco blend or something might do the trick.

Overall,  we liked it.

Oh yeah, David added some Tobasco. Surprise?

One last fun fact from this meal. The kids really FINALLY realized that we are branching out and trying more things. Last night my son said "you sure are makings lots of fancy things. you've been making souffle's and all sorts of fancy stuff. ". I haven't made one souffle yet. Perhaps I will!

Eat Your Heart Out, Columbus

Columbus may have 'discovered' America, but I have recently uncovered TWO new things about myself and food. Looks like I win.

I love satisfying salads (those that contain much more than greens). I also love chickpeas. So it's only natural that I would want to make this recipe: Brown Rice and Chickpea Salad from Cooks Illustrated. Being as how it's a Cooks recipe, it's kind of a pain in the ass (fussy), but it was worth it. This was the first time that I've ever used dried chickpeas. Yes, the canned variety worked just fine in the past, why mess with tradition? Well, the only recipes I try to stick to very carefully are those from Cooks. I respect the scientific process and they work hard to determine the best way to fix something. Fine. Dried chickpeas. Soak them for many hours (I remembered ahead of time - yay!), and wait, what's this? I tasted one and huh... these are actually pretty good as is once they've been soaked... [tried a second handful] hmm... nutty, creamy... nothing like those that come out of a can [tried some more]... Oh crap, now I'm going to have to soak chickpeas from here on out [grumble... tasting more] because I could have eaten them all raw. Who knew? Cooks did I suppose.


Anyway, back to the recipe. The salad has a curry-basil sauce that is especially tasty, and you top with toasted almonds (do *not* skip the toasted almonds). This would make a great take-along lunch. Except that Rob is currently busy scarfing down the rest.

I am pleased to announce that I have discovered THE best and easiest way to cook kale. It should have been obvious to me to roast kale since I cook nearly everything else this way. So why didn't I think of this already? Crispy Sesame Kale from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook. The cookbook is really great, and her blog is beautifully scrumptious, so check them both out. Toss the kale with some dark sesame oil and sesame seeds, and throw into the oven for 10 min. Easy, healthy and insanely delicious.